The Dawn of a New Age
by Magical Timelord
Summary: Everyone knew that things would change when Harry Potter re-entered the wizarding world, but nobody knew just how much! Harry makes a friend a friend in Ollivanders which changes the course of the entire magical world, as the heirs to long lost houses join together to model the world in their image. AU
1. Chapter 1

Anything you recognise I don't own. If I owned Harry Potter I'd be a lot richer than I am!

Rated M to cover myself for violence in future chapters.

A boy ran from the back of his grandfather's shop shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Granddad, Granddad, Granddad help me!" The just turned eleven years old knew he was in trouble. His name was John Williamson. He was quite tall for his age at 5ft 3, very dark black hair with pale blue eyes. He was dressed in smart but well-made and well fitted robes of a light brown colour.

"John! How many times must I tell you…"His grandfather started before he stopped and burst out laughing.

John's skin had turned green and had blue spots in random places. On top of that his ears had turned into small trumpets, making hearing a bit difficult.

"Granddad please fix me!" wailed John.

With a wave of the old mans wand John was returned to his normal appearance, with a look of sheer relief on his face, which was quickly replaced by a look of sorrow.

"How did this happen John?" the old man asked sternly.

"I thought, I thought I felt something from one of the wands Granddad."

"And what should you have done?"

"Waited for you granddad. I'm sorry."

"God boy, we'll get your wand sorted soon, I promise."

At this point they were interrupted by a loud cough from a man so large John wondered how he'd missed him. After all it was his ears which were trumpets, not his eyes.

"Sorry Mr Ollivander, sir, but Professor Dumbledore's waitin' for me back at 'ogwarts."

"Oh of course Hagrid, and we should not keep young Mr Potter waiting of course."

At this point John noticed the young boy standing beside the man his grandfather referred to as Hagrid. He immediately recognised him as Harry Potter. Though he'd never met him before, John was highly intelligent. He knew that Harry Potter would be starting Hogwarts in the same year as him. And with his granddad referring to him as Mr Potter, he put two and two together. Seeing as he hadn't been dismissed by his granddad, he stayed and watched as his granddad gave him multiple wands to try.

Ollivander got happier and happier the further he went. He knew his granddad loved a challenge and he loved watching him work. While he had little interest in taking over the family business (and luckily for him that would go to his uncle and cousins) his granddad had made sure he learned what he could about wandlore, and he did have an interest in the subject. Seeing Harry getting more and more worried with each wand that his granddad snatched out his hand he decided he'd better speak up.

"Don't worry Harry, every wizard has a wand. Its just a matter of finding it."

He just nodded and though he still looked worried. After a couple more minutes of silence only punctuated by bangs of wands rejecting him and Ollivanders mutterings, Harry asked, "What wand do you have?"

"Me? Oh I don't have one yet. Not had chance to choose what materials to make it from."

"Choose? You get to choose what to make your wand out of?"

"Kinda. My granddads taught me about wandlore. As such I'll feel a certain pull to some woods and cores. When I've found out which ones call to me, I'll make my wand from them."

Harry looked vaguely interested in this, though John could still tell he was nervous at not finding a wand and slightly bored now. His granddad had gone through at least eighty wands by now. Sometimes wand makers would be able to sense which wands a person would be suited to before they touched it. Obviously his granddad hadn't been able to sense anything. John knew that wasn't a slight on his granddad. A wand makers ability had nothing to do with this sense. Just sometimes he would not be able to pick anything up. Thinking it was worth a go, John extended his senses, using the techniques his granddad had taught him.

The core most suited to Harry was immediately obvious. John immediately felt the euphoria only a phoenix song could provide. The wood was a little more difficult though. He had a feeling of warmth and being surrounded by love. He struggled to place it until he remembered it was exactly how he felt last Christmas. Now to work out what wood connected to Christmas…..

"Granddad, try Holly and Phoenix feather."

Ollivander turned around and looked sharply at John. John couldn't identify what was behind the look his granddad gave him and wondered briefly if he was in trouble until his granddad spoke.

"That is a most unusual combination John. So unusual in fact, I only made one. And that one has a brother."

John again used his intelligence and figured out what the hidden meaning behind his granddads words. He nodded at his granddad before speaking "I'm sure."

Ollivander went to get the wand and soon arrived back. As soon as Harry grasped the wand it was obvious it was a match. A golden glow emitted from Harry and a huge smile lit up his face. John could feel the rush of magic come from Harry and the wand and blinked a little in shock. That only happened when an extremely powerful wizard or witch found their wand, so his granddad had said.

The outpouring of magic had sent Johns head a little woozy so he sat down on one of the chairs. As such he missed most of the talking to his granddad gave Harry, though from Harry's face he guessed that it was about the connection his wand shared with the Dark Lords.

"Have you even told him about the significance behind the core and wood granddad?"

"Ummm no… I was just getting to that bit."

John mercilessly surprised a laugh. He knew his granddad and he knew him well. He had got carried away. He spoke his next words to Harry.

"Wands with a phoenix feather core display the greatest range of magic, though they sometimes take longer to show this. The Holly wood wand tends to be strongest when acting in defence of others, and this is when your magic will be at its peak."

As Harry nodded on being somewhat interested in what he was being told, his granddad was beaming. He loved it when he made his granddad proud and the best way to do this was to demonstrate his knowledge of wandlore. Deciding he quite liked Harry, he spoke to Ollivander.

"Granddad, if he wants to can Harry stop for tea?"

Before his granddad could answer, the giant of a man responded. "'fraid can't do that. Must be getting young Harry here back to his aunt and uncle."

"Can he come tomorrow then, if his aunt and uncle allow it?"

"Dunno" said Hagrid scratching his head "depends on if Professor Dumbledore says ok."

"And what say does Albus have in this?" asked his granddad

"Well he's Professor Dumbledore ain't he?" said Hagrid, as if that explained it all.

"And young Mr Potter is head of the Ancient and Most Nobel House of Potter. Albus has no say on what happens outside of school."

"I'm what!?" squeaked Harry

Ollivander turned sharply to Harry. "You mean you don't know of the House system?"

"Yeah Hagrid explained it to me. There's Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw…" Harry started before being interrupted by his granddad.

"No not the Hogwarts houses! The Ancient and Most Noble Houses!"

"No I don't know about them sir."

At that his granddad turned to look at Hagrid. "Take Mr Potter back to his relatives. And when you're back at Hogwarts you can tell Albus I'll be coming to see him later."

At that Hagrid nodded and hurried out the shop.

o-0-o

A few hours later John was in the Headmasters office with his granddad and Professor Dumbledore. His granddad had determined after his accident he shouldn't be in the shop on his own. Speaking of his granddad, he was currently arguing with Professor Dumbledore.

"It's preposterous Albus! He's head of a family, you can't not tell him of it!"

"And as I've explained Garrick, I will tell him in due course, probably at the end of the year. I do not want to overwhelm him upon his entry into our world."

John was fed up of hearing them argue. Both were old men too stubborn to listen to the point of the other. He decided to interrupt.

"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore?" he asked, causing the headmaster to look at him.

"Yes Mr Williamson?"

"Surely it would be bad for Harry in the long run if he wasn't told now? I mean I know I don't stand to inherit, but I've still been taught about this stuff and from what I can gather it could seriously affect Harry in the future if he doesn't have this information. And he could sit in on my lessons with me, and then we'd both have a friend to go to Hogwarts with."

Both of the older men looked quite shocked at this. While they'd both been considering the short term impact on Harry, neither had considered the longer term impact or the fact that Harry might actually like to know someone when he got on the train.

"And maybe he could even live with us for the rest of the month, if dad and granddad agreed?"

Professor Dumbledore sighed at this. While this was not how he envisaged Harry's entry into this world, he could not argue the child had valid points. Turning back to his old friend Ollivander he asked. "How well protected is your hall Garrick?"

"Extremely well Albus. You know how valuable some of my books are. Muggle Repelling charms, Dark Object detectors, intention based wards, the whole lot. The Goblins upgraded the wards not long before the Dark Lords fall and carried out their maintenance only last year. And not to mention my own duelling skills and the fact my son in law lives there as well."

Professor Dumbledore thought for a second before saying "Very well. If his relatives permit, Harry can either live with you for summer or join you just for lessons."

At this, John let out a cheer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Anything you recognise in this I don't own. If I owned Harry Potter, I'd be a lot richer than I am!**

The next day his dad was at work again, so it was his granddad who he accompanied to Privet Drive at 10 o'clock in the morning, after taking a portkey to a deserted alley near Harry's given address. His uncle had agreed to look after the shop for the day. John hated it here and had no idea why anyone would want to live in such a dull and uniform place. Where was the character? Eventually John was forced out of his musings by a feeling of cold washing over him and was filled with a sense of fear. He stopped and his granddad looked behind him in surprise.

"You felt that John?" At Johns nod Ollivander looks thoughtful.

'Most unusual. What you felt was us crossing the borderline of the wards outside young Mr Potters home. What exactly did you feel?'

"I felt cold, like I had a pile of snow chucked over me. And then I felt fear, kind of like you or dad had caught me doing something wrong."

"Do you feel anything when you come home, or come to my shop?"

John thought for a moment. He had never felt anything as obvious as what he had just felt, but now that he thought about it, a sense of warmth and welcoming had always washed over him when entering those places. He told his granddad as such.

"Interesting. The warmth you feel when entering my shop or home is wards you are keyed into, meaning you can enter with impunity. The cold you felt here are wards you are not keyed into, but which you are allowed to enter. The fear you felt was you picking up on the fact that these are intent wards. I presume the intent is harm to Mr Potter or his family. If either of us meant them harm, we would not be able to enter this place. And should our intentions change while in there, we will be evicted to outside the ward lines and barred entry."

"I get it. Why did you say it was unusual though?"

"Most wizards would not be able to sense these things until their magical core is more mature, typically around the age of fifteen. For you to feel them at eleven you are either very in tune with your magic, or will have an affinity for warding. Now come along John."

John was a little too stunned to do anything else other than 'come along'. Either way he knew he was lucky. Warding was a skill not many people possessed beyond the very basics. And people who are in tune with their magic were often the more powerful of wizards or witches. This gave him a lot to think about.

He was pulled up short by his granddad walking up a path, knocking on a door and waiting until it was answered by a very skinny woman with an abnormally large neck.

"Good morning. You must be Mrs Dursley? I'm here about your nephew Harry. May we come in?"

Despite looking as if it was the last thing in the world she wanted to do, she allowed them into the house and led them into what John presumed was the living room.

"Well what do you want with the boy?" she asked, her distaste for her nephew evident.

"I'm Garrick Ollivander and this is my grandson John Williamson who will be starting Hogwarts with Harry. We were wondering if Harry wanted to would he be able to stay the rest of time until he goes to Hogwarts with us?"

"Very well. It'll be a burden off us." She started before going to the bottom of the stairs and yelling for him to get his things while she unlocked a cupboard under the stairs. Neither John nor his granddad missed the use of the word 'boy' rather than his name.

A couple of minutes later Harry came down the stairs with a white snowy owl looking confused and not a little scared. When he saw John and Ollivander however he brightened up a little.

"Hello Mr Ollivander, John. Not to sound rude but what are you doing here?"

"Not to worry Harry," Ollivander started to reply "we were wondering if you'd like to spend the rest of your time before Hogwarts with us?"

Harry's face lit up for a second before he started looking downcast. "I'd love to, but I wouldn't want to be a bother."

"Nonsense young man!" exclaimed Ollivander, "If you'd have been a bother we wouldn't have asked. Besides, it will do both you and John good to get to know each other before you go to Hogwarts."

"Please come Harry, it'll be so much fun having someone my own age to hang around with."

At Harry's nodded assent both John and granddad smiled, before he flicked his wand over Harry's trunk. "I have placed a featherweight charm over your trunk now Harry. It should be easy for you to carry. Have you got all your stuff?"

"Yes I have sir."

"Good. Now we'll be traveling by portkey, a form of magical transportation. It would be rather uncomfortable for your owl so can I suggest you let her out of her cage and she fly to my house? She'll know how to get there as long as you're there even without a letter."

"Her name is Hedwig sir." Harry told them while he was letting her out of her cage.

"Ah a lovely name Mr Potter. It means refuge from battle. I only hope you don't need it."

"Please sir, can you call me Harry?" Ollivander nodded his assent before turning towards the woman. "It is obvious you care little for Harry. As such I will make sure he gets to Hogwarts and at the end of the year and returns here at the end. Goodbye Mrs Dursley."

With mumbled goodbyes they all left the house and made their way to the same alley they had arrived in half an hour earlier and his granddad pulled out an old boot before turning to Harry.

"Harry this is a portkey. Once I say the activation word it will transport us to just outside my house. You'll feel a pull behind your navel and like your flying round in circles in the air. The landing can be quite tricky to master. If you move your legs in the air as if you're walking that will at least help. Are you ready?"

At Harrys nod his granddad spoke the activation word and John felt the pull behind his navel.

o-0-o

The landing was a perfect demonstration of the three different types of portkey landing. Ollivander landed perfectly, John landed on his feet, but did stumble a little. Harry, on the other hand, landed directly on his backside, much to Harry's embarrassment.

In between chuckles John said to Harry "Don't worry. I had a similar landing for first dozen or so times I used a portkey."

John then turned around to face the house and started walking in before noticing Harry wasn't following. Instead he was looking at the house with a look of awe on his face. Turning to John he just said to him "I didn't know you're rich?"

John looked at his house and supposed it was rather impressive compared to Harry's house. The outside was made with grey stone that had weathered a little over time but not a great deal. Large ornate windows decorated the three stories of the house and a plain but grand looking black door marked the entrance to the house.

It was his granddad who answered. "Rich my dear boy? We're quite well off but this is nothing compared to your own holdings."

"I'm rich!?"

"Yes you are, though I dare say you can't access most of it at the moment due to your age. I will tell you more about it later on today. Come along Harry."

They started walking towards the house and as they crossed the ward line John, focusing this time, immediately felt the wards he had never paid attention to before that his granddad told him about. Harry stopped and shivered in an almost eerie impression of what John did earlier. It was also eerie at how the conversation Harry and his granddad almost exactly mirrored the conversation that took outside of Privet drive.

As soon as they entered the house they were greeted by a house elf, much to Harry's surprise.

"Dippy, please take Harry's things up to the room next to Johns and then get another elf to bring us light refreshments in the living room"

"Yes Master Ollivander. Old Master Williamson said to pass on a message he plans to be back for around 1 o'clock."

"Very well Dippy. Please delay lunch until that time."

The house elf nodded and popped away leaving a very confused Harry left with John and Ollivander. "What exactly was that sir?"

"It was a house elf Harry. They are bound to wizards to serve us, and in return they use our magic to help keep them strong. Many people new to our society view at as slavery, but in truth without our magic, their life expectancy would be cut by a quarter. Now follow me to the living room please Harry where we will discuss our plan for the rest of the summer."

As they walked down a corridor Harry John watched Harry marvel at his surroundings. Though his grandfather had understated their wealth a little it was true they were not amongst the richest of families. Rather they were on the verge of middle to upper class. However the wood panelled walls lined with portraits and fine carpet did give a sense of elegance and was likely a lot fancier than anything Harry had encountered before.

The living room was similarly decorated as the hallway, with a deep blue carpet and wood panelled walls. A large open fire (currently unlit) was at the back of the room around which several chairs and a sofa were arraigned. On one side of the room stood a display case with several family photos of various ages along with a multitude of decorative glassware and silver trinkets. On the opposite wall stood a large bookcase crammed full of books.

As they sat down a tray of tea and biscuits appeared, along with a house elf who made the tea to each of their likes before Ollivander started the conversation.

"Harry, yesterday I mentioned Houses and you thought I meant Hogwarts houses. Can I presume that to mean you have not been told about how our world works in terms of families and government?" At Harrys shake of the head Ollivander launched into an explanation of houses in the wizarding world.

"Our world is very family based and families can be sorted into houses which are ranked in various ways. At the bottom of the pile you've got what would be known simply as a House. This is a young family which has little standing in the world, an example being House Hobday. Very little attention is generally paid to these families in high up politics, but they make up the majority of our world.

"Then you have noble families which are subdivided according to age. A Noble house means they have a vote in the Wizengamot. A simple Noble family is a family that has been elevated in the last two hundred years. That may sound a long time but keep in mind the average witch or wizard would be considered to have died young at eighty. An Elder and Noble family is a family that has been elevated since the Norman conquest of Britain in 1066. Elder House Malfoy is the best known example of this. A Venerable and Noble family is a family that has been in existence in Britain since before this date. My family is an example of that.

"Finally you have the Ancient and Most Noble Houses. These are the top of the tree and are families who helped Merlin rule our world under King Arthur after the Romans left Britain. These families used to hold the most power under the old system of Wizards Council until it was disbanded in 1707. There are five dormant families who have an heir but whom is unknown, these been Emrys and the four founders houses. The active families are Weasley, who lost their noble status in 1660, Bones, Longbottom, Black, Nott, Parkinson, Greengrass, Peverell and your own family, Potter."

"You mean I'm nobility!?" squeaked Harry, causing John to laugh while replying.

"Not yet, but as soon as you claim your head of house ring you will be."

"Wait a second. If I was that important why did I live in a cupboard under the stairs for ten years?"

"You did what!?" roared John and Ollivander at the same time.

"I'm sorry?"

"Harry" started Ollivander, "you have no need to be sorry. It was your families fault and rest assured I will be speaking to Albus and my son in law about this."

Harry barely looked mollified at this and asked "Who's your son in law?"

"My dad" replied John. "My mum died just before your parents were murdered. Since then my dad has raised but my I see my grandad often. My dad's an auror so he has odd working hours."

"What's an auror?"

"A dark wizard catcher. They deal with protecting the Minister of Magic and catching wizards who use dark arts."

"Kind of like a policeman?"

"Yes, but they only go after the worst criminals."

"Cool."

o-0-o

Ollivander just sat looking amused as the young boys carried on talking. It did his old heart good to see his grandson, whose life had not been all roses talking so freely and opening up.

His daughter, Margaret, had worked as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries since she graduated Hogwarts in 1975. In 1978 she married her Hogwarts sweetheart Mark Williamson, who had just graduated the Auror academy. They had originally held off having a baby due to the war, but eventually decided not to let the Dark Lord dictate their life and she fell pregnant with John, giving birth to him in June 1980. Six months later, she had been murdered after refusing to give information to the Death Eaters. It later turned out her murderer had been a fellow Unspeakable, Augustus Rookwood who was ousted by Igor Karkaroff after the Dark Lords downfall. Mark had helped the infamous Mad-Eye Moody capture Rookwood and put him in Azkaban.

Mark had originally planned on quitting the Aurors to be able to raise John but Ollivander had soon put a stop to that. Instead they'd moved into Ollivander Hall. While Mark was it work, Ollivander would be responsible for John. Running a wand shop wasn't too difficult in many ways. Apart from the run up to Hogwarts customers were generally rare. Ollivander would send his son, Brian, to collect the required components for wands while he stayed in the shop to tend to customers and teach John the various things a child needed to learn. The arraignment suited everyone and there were few problems.

Ollivander was pulled out of his musings by the door opening and his son in law walking in. Mark was a tall man, standing at 6ft 5 and was well built with a muscular frame with blonde hair and grey eyes. His size leant him a slightly intimidating look, a look a he often put into use with conjunction with his formidable duelling skills. His deep voice helped add to the intimidation factor.

"Hello everyone. This must be Mr Potter?"

"Yes sir. Please call me Harry."

"Then you must call me Mark, none of that sir business. Makes me feel like I'm back at the academy with the trainees!" As soon as he sat down in his favourite chair, the one with its back to the wall facing the door and out of shot of the window a lunch of tomato soup with bread rolls arrived, accompanied by Pumpkin Juice and tea.

"I'm afraid I've got to go in tonight" Mark spoke between mouthfuls, "We've got a raid."

"A raid! Cool! Can you tell us anything?" asked John, always keen to know more about his dads work.

"Obviously I can't tell you who or where but they're suspected of brewing some very nasty poisons and selling them on the black market. Normally we'd leave it to the MLEP or Hit Wizards, but this person has a history of using some very nasty curses, including unforgivables. We've got to be back at the office for seven tonight."

John sucked his breath in a bit at his dads mention of unforgivables. He hated it when his dad had to face those.

Seeing Harrys blank look John decided to fill him in. "The MLEP is the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol. They're your normal every day police who can be distinguished by blue robes. Hit Wizards are a group similar to Aurors. They handle criminals who are particularly dangerous, such as those who are talented duellers. The main difference between Hit Wizards and Aurors are Aurors are more experienced when it comes to dark magic. Think of the MLEP as normal police, Hit Wizards as Armed Response and Aurors as anti-terror police."

"You seem to know a lot about muggle police John?"

It was Mark who answered this. "I'm a half blood. My mum was a witch but my dad was a muggle who worked for their police fighting the IRA in the 1970s."

Harry nodded before asking what the unforgivables were, noticing the three of them stiffen up slightly before Mark gave an explanation.

"The unforgiveable curses are the only three curses for which there is no known magical defence or counter-curse. Other curses can perhaps be considered worse, such as the organ-rotting curse, but all have a magical way of blocking them, apart from those three.

The Imperious curse allows you to force someone to do what you want, though that can be fought by those with sufficient mental will. The Cruciatus curse causes the sufferer a great deal of pain. The Killing curse is self-explanatory. The only known survivor of that curse is you Harry."

"Me!?" Harry asked, with a squeak to his voice again.

"Yes you. It's the reason you're so famous. Nobody knows how you did it. Anybody who uses these three curses and is found guilty earns themselves a life sentence in Azkaban, our prison."

The mood grew pensive after the explanation before Ollivander decided to move it onto other topics.

"Well then I'll tell Dippy to leave the afternoon tea and serve dinner at the earlier time of 6. While you're here Mark would you mind me going over what I have planned for the two boys for the summer?" At Marks shake of the head Ollivander carried on talking.

"Well tomorrow John will be extremely happy. In the morning we are going to go the shop and begin the process of making his wand."

"Yes! Thank you grandad!"

"No problem John. Harry you are of course free to come and watch the first part of the process or you may stay in bed a little longer. I'm afraid the first part is not very exciting and it will be two days time before we can move onto the next part."

"I'd love to come." Harry said with a little bit of excitement.

"Very well. Then Harry we will be going to St Mungos, the wizards hospital for you to receive a check up and various protections against the illnesses we can immunise you against. Don't give me that look Harry, if we didn't do it now it would only be done by Madame Pomphrey once you got to Hogwarts. Then we will head to Diagon Alley so Harry can get some better fitting clothes before we return home and the rest of the day will be yours.

Over the weekend your time will again be yours, apart from Sunday when we must go and start the next stage of John's wand. Again, you will be able to join us if you so wish. After the weekend comes the bad news I'm afraid. As the future Lord of an Ancient and Noble House you will be required to know about certain etiquettes those of us in the upper echelons of society abide by on formal occasions. John has had some basic lessons however has he is not in direct line to inherit, they have been limited. He will join you in these lessons so neither of you are alone."

Both John and Harry groaned at this, much to Ollivander's and Mark's amusement.

"Your lessons will be conducted by Madame Andromeda Tonks. Madame Tonks is a former member of the House of Black, disowned for political reasons. For a brief time she was a lawyer until she decided to turn her hand to tutoring etiquette. She is a very kind woman who will not ask for anything from either of you bar your best effort. She will join you for breakfast at 8am every weekday where she will go over the morning's plans. You will lunch at 1230 where you will review the morning. At 1o'clock I'll return and Madame Tonks will leave.

Your afternoons will be spent with me. On Monday we will have a trip to Gringotts so Harry can claim his House Ring and sort out the Potter accounts with them. John and I can only stay with your permission and do not feel obliged to give it if you don't wish. Though the Goblins have a reputation for being sneaky, and they are, they are also fair to a fault and will never cheat you. Indeed a Goblin found to have cheated his client will receive the death penalty."

"I don't mind you coming in sir. You've took me into your home, it's the least I can do."

"Nonsense dear boy. The decision is entirely yours, though I thank you for your trust. After that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday you will have lessons with me, mostly on estate management. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, along with your weekends are your own time. Is all that acceptable?"

Both boys nodded their agreement. Though neither were particularly excited by the idea of lessons, they accepted it was somewhat necessary and at least been together would mitigate the pain somewhat.

"Now then John I need to speak to your dad. Why don't you show Harry his house then give him a tour. We may go out for a bit. If we do send Dippy if you need us."

o-0-o

As the two boys left the room Ollivander turned to Mark. "I need to show you some memories and Albus will want to know. Who at the ministry would normally deal with possible child abuse?"

Mark looked horrified before looking thoughtful. "Normally the investigation would fall under MLEP while action would be undertaken by Children's Services headed up by Claire Brown. However if its Harry we're talking about, perhaps it may be better to take it to Amelia."

"Yes it may be. Do you know if she's free this afternoon?"

"Yes she will be. Scrimgeour is leading the raid. The person isn't on the most wanted so Amelia is barely involved. Do you want me to speak to her?"

"Yes do so. I'll go and prepare the pensive in the study. Can you speak to Amelia and then once your back fire call Albus? I'll open up the wards for the transport room."

Mark nodded his ascent before leaving the room and walking down the corridor to the transport room. This room was the only room in the house where floo travel was permitted. It was shut off at all times from the main house apart from when Ollivander opened it. In the first war a team of six Death Eaters including Bellatrx Lestrange, Augustus Rookwood and Antonin Dolohov had flooed into the room and tried to bring down the wards. After two hours of trying they had eventually given in and retreated. When the fireplace was used Ollivander was notified and could unlock the door or initiate a full lock down of wards, depending if he was expecting guests and who the guests identified themselves as. Any attempt to apperate into the house would result in person landing outside the ward boundaries. The same happened to anyone using Portkeys apart from the reusable one on the Head of House and Heir of House rings.

o-0-o

Arriving at the Ministry Atrium he flashed his Auror badge in order to skip the queue of wizard trying to get into the Ministry and headed straight to Amelia's office where he announced himself to her secretary before waiting for a couple of minutes until he was called into the office.

"Mark come in and sit down. If this about the raid tonight you really should be talking to Rufus about it."

"No it's not about that Amelia. I don't know the details but there's a possible case of child abuse I've been informed of."

"While this is very serious is there a reason you're reporting it to me instead of Claire?"

"Yes, my father in law informed me of it. The child is Harry Potter."

"Merlin's beard! Are you sure?"

"No not really. Garrick just told me had some memories and he requested someone come see them with him, Albus and me."

"Ok. Just let me finish the last bit of this report. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

Mark's eye brows raised a little at the head of the DMLE personally investigating this but said his goodbyes and left to go back home and firecall Dumbledore. Half an hour later Ollivander, Mark, Dumbledore and Amelia were stood around the pensive waiting to go in.

The first memory they saw first was Ollivander, John and Harry at the Dursley house. Although it was a decent looking house, if not to the taste of most wizards. But one thing Mark noticed was the pictures. There were pictures of a very overweight man and boy and a very thin woman. But obviously none of them was Harry Potter. The way the woman called him 'boy' was extremely distasteful and when he came downstairs Mark again noticed how oversized his clothes were and how thin Harry was. Indeed his clothes seemed second hand and Mark realised with a start that they were probably the old clothes of the boy in the picture. Then the memory ended.

Before anyone could speak the memory moved onto the next one. Ollivander had just finished informing Harry about the Houses and Harry had just mentioned sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs.

o-0-o

Everyone exited the memory and it wasn't hard to see the anger in all their eyes. It was Dumbledore who spoke first, his voice laced with sadness.

"Minervra warned me about them, but I didn't believe her. I thought over time they would love him, treat him as their own."

"They obviously did not" replied Ollivander, "how anyone could do that to a child is beyond me."

It was Amelia who spoke next. "Fortunately he hasn't technically being abused. However the neglect is enough that I have no problems with authorising Child Services to launch proceedings to find a new family for next summer and future summers."

"There could be a problem there Amelia, about why he was placed there in the first place."

"Are you referring to the blood wards that are present there Albus?"

"You sensed them Garrick?"

"Yes. Interestingly John also sensed the presence of the wards, though he didn't know what it was. Harry also felt the presence of the wards around our house."

Eyebrows raised at this, all of those present knowing what exactly that meant before Amelia questioned Albus about the blood wards.

"When Lilly sacrificed her life, it provoked ancient magic to provide a protection around Harry. This is the most likely reason for his survival against the killing curse. When Harry resides within the walls of those who directly share blood with him, that protection continues. This protection will last until it needs renewal after a year, or until he becomes an adult."

"The question is Albus" started Mark "is the protection worth the sacrifice of the neglect he is obviously suffering?"

"I don't know Mark, but I would say it is overall."

"There is another alternative here. How long would the wards take to recharge Albus?" asked Ollivander.

"A month Garrick. For a month every year Harry must reside in those walls for the protection to stay."

"It's simple then. I'll offer Harry protection under the Venerable and Noble House of Ollivander. The Hogwarts express always leaves on the 30th June, every year. I will pick him up for platform 9 ¾ with John before portkeying to his relatives. He will stay there until the 30th July with the expenses of the Dursleys provided by House Ollivander. On 30th July we will pick him up and he will spend the rest of the summer with us, if he is agreeable."

"That is an excellent plan Garrick. I thank you for thinking of it. His parents paid his Hogwarts fees through their will so you will not need to worry about that expense. Are you happy with this Amelia?"

"Not really, but I see little choice. I will request I be present when you see the Dursleys however Mr Ollivander."

"I find that acceptable Madame Bones. I was planning to go Monday morning. If you are not free send me an owl and we'll organise another time"

With that the four of them milled around a little before Madame Bones and Professor Dumbledore headed off back to the Ministry and Hogwarts respectively. Left in the room was Mark and Ollivander, both privately vowing to make up for the years of neglect Harry had suffered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Anything you recognise in this I don't own. If I owned Harry Potter, I'd be a lot richer than I am!**

As Professor Dumbledore, Madame Bones, Mark and Ollivander were meeting to discuss what should be done with Harry Potter, the said boy-who-lived was being taken on a tour of the house by John. They started off in the entrance hall Harry that they had entered when they first walked in the house. The entrance hall was tastefully decorated with neutral colours with the symbol of the House of Ollivader, a simple raised wand, on a dark red rug the main noticeable feature.

To the right of the door as you walked in was a long corridor which led to the to the transport room, which John explained the function of to Harry. On the left as you walked in led to a corridor from which led four rooms. John explained to Harry that this part of the house was referred to as the public part. Any guests that may be visiting who weren't close friends of the family would be entertained in these rooms.

The first door led to a sparse bathroom. John explained, when Harry noted there was only a toilet and a sink, that this arraignment was not uncommon. After all, while people who were visiting for a few hours may need to use the toilet, they would hardly need to bathe, so what was the point of having a bath or shower? The second door led to a study. This study was used by the Head and Heir of the House to hold private meetings with political allies. It held two large bookshelves crammed with books, most on political history and law. In the centre of the room stood an ornate desk with two equally ornate chairs on each side of the desk. On the desk was a stack of paper, which John indicated was the minutes from the last Wizengamot meeting with a quill and an inkwell.

The third door led to a reception room. This was where guests would generally be entertained. There was the largest fireplace Harry had ever seen on one end of the wall, a radio on a mahogany table next to it. A large drinks cabinet took up most of the space on one wall, while the other was taken up by huge windows and an ornate set of doors that opened up to the back garden. While in the family living room upstairs the chairs centred around the fire, in this room the chairs were spread out across the room in various places. It was set up in such a way that it would not be difficult for the whole room to have a discussion, but if there were plenty of guests (Harry estimated there was easily enough room for twenty people) conversations could take place in relative privacy.

The final door was a large dining room, which had views across both the back garden and across the side of the house. Most of the room was taken up by a massive cherry wood table which sat ten people along each side as well as someone at both ends of the table. Old looking china plates adorned the table while the utensils were all made from solid silver, which John informed him was around four hundred years old.

While the bottom storey had an elegance about the place the second storey was a lot more homely. John explained to him the staircase was warded so only those with Ollivander blood, someone who was keyed into the wards (Ollivander would do this to Harry at some point but hadn't had chance yet) or someone touching a member of the Ollivander family would be able to get past the top step on the staircase. The layout was similar to the bottom floor, but there more rooms, made up by the rooms being smaller. Above the transport room stood the kitchen, which the three family houselves were currently in. Dippy was in charge of serving the family and any guests as well as cleaning the bottom and middle floor. Floppy (who had the largest ears Harry had ever seen) was in charge of the kitchen and top floor while Trippy (according to John when he was young he had a habit of tripping on thin air) was in charge of the garden.

The space where the downstairs toilet was stood a larger bathroom, with a deep and long bath and the taps made out of silver. Where the reception room was, stood the family dining room. This room was smaller, courtesy of a dividing wall allowing for a bigger bathroom and for the next room to be bigger. The table was not as grand as the downstairs one, nor were the utensils and could seat eight.

The next room was the largest on this floor, it being the family library and it was this room which John took the most time explaining.

"The books on your left are free to take. An anti-theft charm is put on them however. If you take them outside the house without asking my grandad or uncle an alarm will sound and the book will animate and hit you over the head. As you can tell some of them are quite heavy."

"I would never steal them!" Harry replied with some heat at the implication.

"Sorry," John quickly replied backtracking, "I didn't mean to imply that you would. I told you because the charm can't distinguish between theft and you accidentally forgetting to ask."

"Sorry." Harry said somewhat sheepish at his outburst.

"No problem, I can see why you would be offended. The bookshelf at the end has age restricted books. The reason they're restricted is because of the advanced magic found in some of them. My grandad has been kind enough to put the age needed to access each of them on the spine of the book. If you touch a book you're too young for you'll get a slight bit of pain. Nothing major, just enough to shock you. If you actually take the book out, it's the same as if you take one of the other books out without permission."

"Why have both? Why not just have the alarm?"

"It's in case we try to take one by accident. That way we get a warning before we actually do wrong. I know if I try to take one to the point where the alarm goes off I'm grounded and have two weeks pocket money taken off me."

Harry nodded along at this, wondering what would happen if he tried to take one. Not that he had any intention of trying. Mr Ollivander might send him back to the Dursleys if he did. John led him to the right side of the room.

"These are the only books you can't access. They are the family books, including the family grimoire. They are only accessible by those with Ollivander blood who has the permission of the Head or Heir of house. If you try to take one an alarm will sound and the wards will lock the house down. If it's the grimoire you try and take every book in the house will animated and will attack."

"Why such security?"

"Each family has a collection of books it won't let others see, often focusing on one subject. For example ours is wand making, though there are some other subject matters in there. All noble families, and some of the un-noble families have their own grimoire. It is a book in which only the Head or Heir of a house may write and contains many pieces of magic secret to the family. Some are very old, for example ours was first wrote in in 956 when one of my ancestors decided it would be a good idea to start one. The Potter grimoire on the other hand is rumoured to have first started in 407 when the last of the Romans left Britain and the old families regained rule."

"Wow that's really old. I can't wait to see mine, even if I won't be able to read it."

"You will be able to. The magic of each grimoire is such that it automatically translates into the Head of House's natural language."

"That's cool."

"No, that's magic" laughed John as they left the library.

The last room on this floor was the family living room they had been earlier so they skipped this room and went upstairs.

"To the right of us there's my granddads bedroom, my uncles bedroom for when he stays here, which is normally only over Christmas, and my dad's bedroom." They then moved to the left of the staircases where another three rooms stood. John motioned to the first room, telling Harry it was his room and invited him in.

The inside of the room had plenty of room, but wasn't overly large. A queen sized bed stood with its headboard against the back wall. A bookcase was filled to the brim with various books, some on magic and others fiction of various target ages. Harry saw a book that looked particular well-read titled 'Greatest Duellers of History and their Strategies'. A nice looking desk was placed next to the book shelf which had fresh parchment, ink and a grand looking quill placed on it. On the final wall stood a large wardrobe along with a chest of drawers.

The walls themselves were covered in posters, some of people whom John informed were famous duellists. John informed an old one of someone called Filius Flitwick was one of his favourites and he now taught charms at Hogwarts. John also pointed at a much newer poster of a man called Roger Marshall, who he said was his favourite active dueller and was up and coming, having only left Hogwarts three years previously.

The other posters were each groups of seven people either holding or flying on brooms. John informed him of quidditch and quickly explained the basic rules. Apparently the team in white robes with red flashes on were the England quidditch team (who were apparently useless, especially the seeker, though the keeper was good) and the ones in navy-blue robes with two crossed golden bulrushes on were Puddlemere United.

The next room along would be Harry's room. It was decorated in much the same way as Johns, but without the homely touches. There were no posters on the wall, though his little collection of books were stacked on the bookshelf and his clothes were neatly folded and put away. John told him that if Harry enjoyed his time here this room would be his whenever he stayed over and his grandad might be willing to redecorate a little if he wanted, though Harry insisted it was fine the way it was.

All in all the tour had taken about an hour. John had offered to show Harry the garden but after it was explained it wasn't very large and the main attraction was three trees that Ollivander often used for wand wood it was decided it wouldn't be worth it.

They were on their way to the kitchen to get a drink when they saw a sever looking woman and a very old man in some magenta robes being showed out the door.

"I wonder what Madame Bones and Professor Dumbledore were doing here?"

"That was Professor Dumbledore? Who's the other woman?"

"Yes that was Professor Dumbledore, he always wears the most hideous of robes. The woman was Madame Bones. Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Regent of the Ancient and Noble House of Bones."

"Any ideas on what they were doing here?"

"Nope. No idea. Professor Dumbledore and grandad are old friends so I normally see him a couple of times in the summer. No idea why Madame Bones would be here though." That was a lie. John thought it might have something to with Harry and the way he had been brought up, but he wasn't going to mention that yet. No need to embarrass or upset Harry.

He was just coming out of his musings when he saw his dad and grandad coming back in after seeing the guests off.

"A John and Harry. Finished with tour?"

"Yes sir, you have a fantastic house."

"No problem Harry. Is your room to your satisfaction?"

"It's great sir."

"I'm pleased. If there's anything you wish to change please let me know." Ollivander turned to John. "Your Uncle Tiberius, Aunt Victoria and the couisins will be joining us for dinner. It will be the slightly earlier time of 5 due to your dad having to go to work. Tiberius and I have house business to discuss, so you will be expected to entertain your aunt and cousins."

"Yes grandad."

"Good. It's now half past two. Your uncle will be arriving at half past four. Seems Harry is here and needs to learn these things anyway I've floo called him and told him we will be having a formal occasion. Harry you will be exempt from the proceedings this time as you have not learned them. Rather you will just watch. Is all this understood?"

Both boys nodded the affirmitve.

"Good. I expect you both to be washed, into formal clothes and down here waiting to greet our guests by twenty five past four. Dippy is resizing some of Johns old robes for you Harry. They will suffice until we get your own tomorrow. Off you go."

Both boys immediately headed back upstairs and went into Johns room so he could explain what was going on.

"Basically it's all going to be fancy pish posh stuff. Nothing will be expected of you on this occasion due to your lack of knowledge in these areas. Just be courteous and polite like you have been to my grandad and you'll be fine. Now I'm going for a quick bath to clean myself. Dippy will measure you up while I'm there then you can have your wash and we'll get changed."

o-0-o

So it was at half past four Ollivander, Mark, John and Harry stood in the entrance hall ready to greet their guests, who would be arriving by portkey. John explained that his uncle had a ring denoting him as Heir of the house that allowed him to portkey himself and guests straight into the house. Apparently Ollivander hadn't been able to do that for Harry as he was not keyed into the wards, he would bounce off anyway.

Harry was dressed old clothes of John's. Black trousers with a white shirt were worn underneath a black robe with fancy embroidery around dark green trims. John was dressed in similar robes, except his trim was a dark blue, and he had the crest of House Ollivander over his left breast. He had explained as a member of the family he was entitled to wear this crest. And seems he was a blood member of the family, the crest was worn over the left breast as opposed to his right.

Though this was a formal dinner Mark had to leave for work in a matter of hours. As such he was excused from wearing formal robes. Instead, he wore the scarlet robes of an auror. Mark had explained that though aurors didn't have a day to day uniform they wore scarlet robes when on raids or other highly visible tasks. Underneath the robes of but over his shirt he wore a battered piece of what looked like leather. Apparently this was dragon hide, specifically from a Welsh Green and was standard issue for aurors. Apparently this type of armour only offered basic protection, but this in itself was expensive and the DMLE budget wouldn't stretch to each auror having armour from stronger dragons.

Ollivanders robes were a dark blue offset with a golden trim. His shoes, just visible beneath his black trousers and his robes were highly polished and reflected the room around them. He worse the crest of House Ollivander on his left breast like John, but his crest was outlined in gold denoting his status as Head of House.

There was a sudden gust of wind and suddenly four people were stood In front of them in the entrance hall.

"Tiberius, it's good to see you." Ollivander greeted the oldest man of the group. He was of average height and his brown hair was starting to grey a little though his blue green eyes were sharp and held a hidden intelligence. Overall he looked to be around forty and wore light blue robes with a silver trim. The Ollivander crest on his let breast was outlined in silver to donate his status as Heir of House.

Victoria, in contrast to her husband, had light blonde and blue eyes. She wore a peach dress with flowers embroided on underneath her light blue robes. The Ollivander crest was over her right breast denoting the fact that she had married into the family. On her left breast was a small crest of a golden fox. Harry had been informed earlier that this symbolised she was a member of a house lower down in the nobility of house Ollivander. If they were of the same stature, it would have been the same size of crest.

A younger man and younger woman were then introduced as Helena and Marcus. They were clearly twins. Both twenty years old both had the same shade of brown for their hair and the same colour blue for their eyes. Marcus wore the same style robes as his father, without the silver trim around his crest while Helena wore similar robes to her mother, though her blue was slightly darker and her dress was light green. Harry was slightly dismayed to find he thought she was very pretty and struggled to stop the blush rising from his cheeks.

"Father it is good to see you. You of course know my wife, Victoria and my children Marcus and Helena." He said this after a slight bow and a handshake. Victoria and Helena curtseyed slightly before Ollivander kissed their cheeks and Marcus bowed deeper than his father before shaking Ollivanders hand.

"Of course. You know Mark Williamson. I'm sorry he is not dressed in the way you might expect but he has to leave for work not long after our meal. You also know John Williamson. The young boy next to him is Harry James Potter, Scion of Ancient and Noble House of Potter.

Four pairs of eyes flickered up to Harry's forehead before they came back to his eyes and they greeted him and they all headed to the reception room where drinks were served by Dippy. As soon as the clock chimed five Dippy told them the first course was ready and lead them into the dining room.

Ollivander sat the head of the table, with Tiberius to his right and Mark to his left. Victoria, Marcus and Helena sat down the table from Tiberius, with Harry and John sat down the table from Mark. Dippy brought in wine for the adults apart from Mark who joined John and Harry with Pumpkin juice seems he was going on a raid later.

Conversation flowed freely, with nothing important discussed while they ate at a relaxed pace. For starters they had salmon and sorrel with a vermouth sauce. Main course was roasted venison with roast potatoes, green beans and carrots served with a red wine gravy. Finally dessert was a simple but tasty strawberry flan.

After dinner was finished Mark had to leave in order to get back to the auror office for the briefing and preparation of the raid. Victoria had a prior arrangement with one of her friends so left at the same time. John led Harry, Marcus and Helena into the reception room. Due to the age gap conversation was a little awkward and stifled but common ground was found by educating Harry on quidditch and the duelling league.

While conversation was a little awkward in the reception room, there was no such problem in Ollivanders study between himself and Tiberius.

o-0-o

"I must say father, while I wasn't really surprised by your invitation for dinner, I was surprised at its forma nature and Harry Potter being present. I know you said he doesn't know anything about our world's etiquette but why is that?"

"He was raised by muggles Tiberius."

"I suppose that would explain it. Why them though? There would be plenty of families willing to take him in."

"It was his aunt. The way he survived to killing curse has something to do with blood protection. Albus knows that much, though he has admitted he is lost at the details. However there is something more important here then the lack of knowledge of our customs."

Tiberius's eyebrows rose at this. Ollivander could see the clogs turning. His son was incredibly intelligent, nearly as intelligent as his grandson he mused. Members of the Ollivander blood hadn't been in Ravenclaw for nearly five hundred years for nothing.

"He was physically and emotionally neglected. He was underfed, all his clothes were second hand from his cousin. The ones he's wearing now are some of Johns that Dippy resized."

"I thought they looked familiar. Victoria's forty second birthday party this year?"

"Yes. I sometimes forget how good your memory is."

"Says the man who remembers every wand he's ever sold. How many is that again?" Tiberius replied laughing."

"You know as well as I do that I don't remember the number. I just remember the wand to the face."

"True, but we've got off topic."

Ollivander sighed. "True. Anyway this situation can't go on, but he needs to live under the same roof as his aunt in that house for a month."

Tiberius looked sharply at his father at that. "You've got a plan."

"I do." Ollivander acknowleged. "I want to offer him protection under our house. Until he comes of age I, and in the event of my death you, will be his guardian in our world and will assume responsibility for him."

"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that." Tiberius remarked with a lot of surprise in his voice. "I don't have any issues per se. I mean he won't be part of the family so it's not like he can use his position to try and claim inheritance."

"He wouldn't do that anyway. He's a lovely young man." Ollivander said with some annoyance.

"I'm not saying he would necessarily." Tiberius quickly said. "But I don't know him. You know I'm not as skilled at you as reading people. I have to resort to legilimency which would be a gross of invasion of his privacy."

"True." Ollivander conceded.

"Anyway my main concern is financial. Obviously I don't know our family financial affairs, as that's your business, but Hogwarts isn't cheap. I know we could afford it, but how much of a strain would it be? "

"None. His parents sorted that out in their will. I don't know the details but Albus said it was all paid for. And I presume he has a trust vault for other expenses."

"Well then I have no objections as long as his muggle guardians agree. I would suggest though we make sure he settles in alright first though.

"I was going to do it straight away but only specify it for a year. That way if he doesn't settle well with us, he can be free to find his own way, though our help would still be offered. I've arranged with Andromeda Tonks to give both Harry and John the necessary lessons."

"Why John? You never bothered before seems he's fourth in line to inherit."

"Yes and I wouldn't normally bother. But the two of them seem to get on well and I don't see the point of splitting them up because Harry has to attend lessons."

Tiberius nodded his assent at this. The next few minutes were spent discussing logistics such as what days and times Tiberius would be needed to manage the shop before they returned to the reception room to break the news.

o-0-o

When they moved into the living room Ollivander was glad to see things had gone reasonably well. Though he knew there would be an element of awkwardness due to the age gap he was glad to see all were at least talking, apparently about who would win the weekends match between Holyhead Harpies and Wigtown Wanderers. Ollivander called for attention.

"Both Tiberius and I have discussed some house business have come to agreement. We would like to offer you, Harry, protection under the Venerable and Noble House of Ollivander until your twelfth birthday, at which time the protection will be renewed if you so wish until you come of age."

The reactions were mixed. Marcus and Helena looked surprised but offered Harry his congratulations while John was delighted. Harry on the other hand was very confused and had to have it explained to him by Ollivander.

"Basically it means I become your guardian in this world. At the moment it is your aunt who is your guardian in this world. If you accept this it becomes me. All Hogwarts reports will come to me, as will any letters home they or the ministry may send. I will be in charge of your health and well being and will in effect as your parent in all things magical."

"That sounds great sir. But I don't want to be a bother."

"It's no bother. The biggest expense, your Hogwarts tuition, is already sorted out. Your parents left the money ring-fenced in their will to pay for it. All I ask of you is that you give your lessons your very best effort."

"Then in that case thank you sir."

Ollivander simply smiled at the boy. The rest of the night was took up by the family getting to know the boy who was now under their protection. At nine o'clock Tiberius, Marcus and Helena returned home. John and Harry was sent to bed as they had a busy day the next day.

After Harry brushed his teeth and got changed into his pyjamas he snuggled up into bed and he couldn't help the broad smile that crept across his face. At last, it appeared he had a home.


End file.
